New Moon |
Waxing Crescent |
First Quarter |
Waxing Gibbous |
Full Moon |
Waning Gibbous |
Last Quarter |
Waning Crescent |
we are looking for the waxing cresent of the moon not the new moon. the
translations of the hadith are literal and do not convey the intent of what
is being said.
The Pocket Oxford Dictionary gives the meaning
of 'new moon' as 'moon when first seen as a crescent after conjunction with
the sun'.
Muslims thus follow different
Islamic calendars in different parts of the world. Obviously such different
calendars cannot be practically followed for international dealings and transactions
in today's world which has virtually been converted into a global village
thanks to technological advance.
this is not relavent to the Islamic calender since
the islamic calender is to establish the month of the year for the purpose
of worship such as the days of ramadhan, eid and days of fasting. not for
the arab version of wall street to keep track of there business dealings,
they use western calanders anyway and are forced to if they want to deal
on an international level we do not bend our religion for money.
Islam is a practical religion, Brother!
It doesn't prescribe double standards, one for religion and another for worldly
affairs. It's persons of your school of faulty thought that make Islam look
impracticable in today's world. By admitting that one has to use 'western
calendars' for business dealings at international level, you're already
making your faulty version of religion bend for money. Pure Islam, as depicted
in the divine Qur'aan, doesn't have to bend, for anything. The lunar calendar
based on this pure, Allah-perfected religion would be internationally viable
for all purposes. And if the non-Islamic world insists on a solar calendar,
the dates on the former calendar can easily be converted into dates on the
latter. The solar calendar that the world follows is not at all perfect.
It remains imperfect even after inserting an addtional day once in 4 years.
The clock has even then to be adjusted by a second or so after every few
years. It's after all a man-made calendar. The perfect divine calendar based
on the pure Qur'aanic guidance, on the other hand, shall inshaAllah have
no corrections to make.
Saudi arabia already seperates its civil calendar
from its religious one which is why moon sighting still occurs in the country,
last years contravercy was over two witnesses suposedly sighting the moon
on the day the new moon was calculated to have been. Al hamdulillah they
still place value on sighting the moon and recognise that it is a requirment.
That is what you say, Brother! My information
is that the Saudi government follows the calculated new moon timings.
But this requirement of physically
sighting the new moon, is nowhere mentioned in the Qur'aan.
Which means nothing unless you are implying the
sunnah is of a much lesser authority
than the Quran.
That's the root of all our troubles, Brother!
We're unable to understand that the Huadheeth
regarding our Prophet (peace and Allah's blessings be upon him)
telling people to start and end Ramadhaan fastings on sighting the new moon,
was time-specific for the people of the age in which he lived. This huadheeth has to be read with another
wherein he said that theirs was a community of illiterate people, who knew
not how to keep accounts [H.137; Vol.3, Sahih Bukhari]. The Qur'aan, on the
other hand, is valid for all times till the Last Day. The people during the
Prophet's time had no alternative, but to end any month on the 29th day
only if they sighted the moon on that day. They had no means to calculate
the fixed/appointed points of time for the new moons to come out for the earth.
As per the divine Book, people did
question the Prophet about the new moons. And the Prophet was directed to
inform the people that these are fixed points in time to enable mankind to measure it (time) [refer verse 2.189].
not true in the context of this article, they
did not question rasul allah in relation to whether they should site the
moon or not which makes the very next line have no basis what so ever.
And indeed are these fixed points in time, for the entire mankind on earth.
the moon has an orbit just like the sun it is
not a fixed time starting in one location on earth this is twisting of the
ayat and what rasul allah said.
Your denial of new moon timings being fixed
points in time, is a denial of the Qur'aan. Verse 2.189 clearly tells us
that the new moons are mawaaqueetu linnasi
(fixed/appointed points in time for mankind). And it's a scientifically verified
fact that the different phases of the moon occur at fixed points of time
in relation to the entire earth. But because of the rotation of the earth,
these fixed points in time have to be represented by different local times
at different places on the earth. If this is too complicated for you to understand,
let me give you the example of the full moon. It occurs at the same moment
of time for the entire earth, although this same moment of time is represented
by different local times at different places. And mind you, the full moon
is a momentary occurrence. In the very next moment, a this line of darkness
starts spreading at one side of the moon, which generally goes unnoticed
by the naked human eye.
And about 15 days later, an exactly opposite phenomenon happens. The
entire illuminated half of the moon gets away from the earth, and for all
of us on earth, it's entirely a dark moon, which the stronomers call, as
you have mentioned, a new moon. They call it a new moon, because at that
very moment, a thin bright line at one side of the moon's circumference
starts getting illuminated by the sun's rays. This bright line cannot be
seen by naked eyes on earth. But that is the meequaat (singular of mawaaqueet) for mankind mentioned in
verse 2.189. What different people in different countries see as the new
moon, is not actually the new moon, as you have yourself pointed out. What
they see is the waxing crescent at different stages of its development.
The waxing crescent doesn't have a fixed time. But since Allah T'a'ala speaks
of fixed times (mawaaqueet), it
has got to be of the astronomical 'new moon'.
Brother! Your denial of the Qur'aanic mention of new moons being fixed
points in time, also betrays lack of knowledge of the dynamics of the relative
movements of the sun, the moon and the earth in space. Therefore, frankly,
the other remarks in your comments above make no sense.
here is the clear falacy of this articles entire
argument,
The new moon that last occurred was on
the 2nd November, 2005 at 6.54 a.m. as per the Indian Standard Time.
the new moon occured on the 2nd of november all
around the world making the cresent posible to see on the 3rd of november
and friday being the first day of the month. Saudi arabia celebrated eid
on the 3rd of november meaning one day early so how can you advocate that
people follow saudi arabia if you know they are wrong.
But the Saudi government was not wrong,
Brother! The meequaat, in terms
of verse 2.189 had already occurred on the 2nd November. Qur'aanically, they
were correct in observing the Eid on the 3rd.
My information is that if the calculated
occurrence of the new moon there is before sunset, the next day is declared
by that government as the 1st of the next Islamic month.
The information relied upon in the article is
not accurate since it is an established scientific fact that you can not
calculate the visibility of the new cresent the thing Allah and his prophet
commanded us to establish the days of the month with not the new moon( which
is not visible ever). Saudi arabia calculates the new moon not the cresent
there is a diference and mix up in terminology in this artile.
The mix up is in your understanding, Brother!
Since the Qur'aan speaks of new moons being fixed points in time, the 'new
moons' it is referring to cannot but be the astronomical new moon. The 'new
moons' that you and I first see cannot have fixed points in time.
The Quran it self says you have to witness
the first cresent not calculate it (2;185) fa man shahidah minkum ash sharah,
those from you who have witnesed the month, some translate it as "So every one of you who is present (at his home)
during that month" the meaning is still pointed towards presence and witnessing
the month.
Witnessing the month cannot be the same
as 'witnessing the new moon', Brother! You're clearly trying to twist the
clear meaning of the divine Writ. If we go by your interpretation, the translation
of that particular part of the verse, 2.185, would be: ---'whoever of you
witnesses the new moon, should fast'---. Do you mean to say that those who
do not witness the new moon, need not fast? Don't you think you are incurring
Allah's wrath by such open twisting of the clear meaning of His words?
"the root meaning of the term shahidah refers to a witnessing which takes
part in a physical form, as a form of proof, scholars of arabic grammer agree
on this by unanimous concensous, ibn abbas is one example". Therefor you
can not merely calculate the cresent (something imposible to do with accuracy)
it must be sighted with human eye.
I reiterate, you are misinterpreting
Allah's unambigously clear words with ambiguous and error-prone human opinions.
And I reiterate, there cannot be fixed points in time (mawaaqueet) for the new moons (crescents)
first sighted by human eyes. Mawaaqueet
could be valid only for the astronomical new moons. Allah has enabled these
fixed points to be accurately calculated by modern man.
Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated, “I heard Allah's Messenger
(The blessing and peace of Allah be upon him) saying, “When you see the crescent (of Ramadhan), start
fasting, and when you see the crescent (of the month of Shawwal), stop fasting;
and if the sky is overcast (and you can't see it) then regard the month of
Ramadan as of 30 day.
People of the Prophet's time didn't have
the knowledge to calculate the meequaat.
There was no alternative for them but to sight the new moon to be aware
that the meequaat had occurred.
the entire world ought to adopt
the calendar as framed by the Saudi government; for, that government is
the custodian of the places where the Hajj is performed.
There is no authority in the Quran or sunnah to
follow Saudi Arabia a country named after its rulers not becouse of its religion.
Many times in our history the seat of the Khalifah has changed, from Makah
to Damascus to Baghdad to Istanbul it never stayed with who ever was in control
of the two cities.
The mention of the Hajj in verse 2.189 is
the authority. The astronomical new moons are mawaaqueet for mankind as well as for
the Hajj. It is the Saudi government that determines the dates of the Hajj
every year. Mankind from all over the world come there for the Hajj. They
have willy-nilly to follow those dates. And as long as that government
follows the guidance given in the Qur'aan, mankind should not have any objection
to follow the same calendar all over the world.
This artilce is an argument for
the Quran only Group, no mention or value is placed upon the Sunnah of the
prophet, Allah himself in the Quran asks us to look towards the sunnah of
rasul allah to clarify the Quran.
There are no groups in Islam, Brother! Those
who follow the Qur'aan, belong to Islam. And those who do not follow the
Qur'aan, do not belong to Islam. The Prophet was the very embodiment of the
Qur'aan. The Qur'aan contains the most authenticated and accurate sayings
of the Prophet. He was the Messenger of Allah. His sunnah could not be different
from sunnatullah. Those who follow
the Qur'aan, follow the Prophet.
Mohammad Shafi
islam-n-interest.com